The present invention relates to a panel system and a method of installing a light weight structural system to provide a safe, long lasting, weatherproof, maintenance free surface. The panel may be a composite material with fiberglass reinforced polymer (FRP). It may be covered with a gel coat or a painted finish. The panel provides structural strength to support loads and forces as a combination roof and decking material as well a sidewall construction building panel.
The present invention is a non-metal panel system with advantages over known metal panel systems, metal panel foam laminate systems, FRP panel systems, and FRP foam combination panel systems.
Prior art metal panel roof systems are traditionally divided into two categories, architectural and structural. An architectural system is generally a steep slope system, used for visual impact or aesthetics. It typically requires a supporting deck with a minimum slope of 3 inch per foot of slope with water shedding or hydrokinetic seams. A structural system will tend to be a low slope system, although a minimum of xc2xc inch per foot of slope is typically used to provide runoff. A structural system can support its own weight without a deck. The seams of a structural system are water tight or hydrostatic and are designed to withstand water pressure.
These types of metal panels and seams come in a variety of shapes and sizes. Panels profile or shapes can be of corrugated style design, trapezoidal rib, flat, or a specialty design. Seams may have an interlocking or meshing male/female design, although non-meshing ends covered with a cap are also used. The seams may be hand formed, roll formed, or brake formed. Types of seam can include flat, corrugated, trapezoidal rib, batten, vertical leg. The term xe2x80x9cstanding seamxe2x80x9d is often used as a generic description for most kinds of metal roofing. It comes from the fact that the seams stand vertically upright above the panel flats. Because a standing seam located above the panel is therefore out of the path of water that is either shedding from the roof or ponding or accumulating on the roof, the standing seam provides superior waterproofing, even when a hydrostatic seal of the seam may fail. These panels may be attached to supporting substructures with through panel fasteners. A number of fastening means are known, but a common means is a simple bolt and washer assembly with a variety of sealing methodologies. There are a variety of other attachment methods that do not require penetration of the panel surfaces, such as the clip system described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,649,684 to Petree. Another non-penetrating fastener is that taught by Greenberg in U.S. Pat. No. 5,737,892.
The same type of panels and seaming techniques are used commonly in the sidewall panels of buildings as are used in roofs, although waterproofing is a reduced concern. These panels are of metals, such as steel, copper, aluminum, etc., of typical thicknesses about 0.015 inches to about 0.051 inches. Similar to this type of metal panel roof and wall construction is roof and wall panel construction composed of panels that contain an insulated core with outer- or inner metal skins with similar design profiles and patterns.
Today, fiberglass-reinforced polymer panel roof and wall panel construction is similar, if not identical to, metal panel roof and wall construction. A primary difference is that FRP panel or panel system does not use a through panel attachment methodology combined with a standing seam lateral adjoinment. Lateral flat panel seams and longitudinal flat seams often require a field applied sealant, especially in combination with some form of sealing member, such as a gasket. These seams are vulnerable to problems in field craftsmanship as well as the durability and maintenance of the sealant used. In other words, an otherwise acceptable or even superior FRP panel roofing system can result in complaints against the manufacturer due to factors beyond that manufacturer""s control. One FRP panel system using through panel attachment methodology and flat overlap seams is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,625,999 to Buzza.
Other plastic panel technology that has been developed in recent years includes the panel coupling assemblies of Conterno, assigned to Politec Polimeri Tecnici S. A. of Italy, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,347,495 B1 (Feb. 19, 2002) and U.S. Pat. No. 6,202,382 B1 (Mar. 20, 2001).
It is a previously unmet object of the invention to provide a non-metal panel system that employs a non-penetrating method of attachment, to eliminate penetrating fasteners that are the source of leaks, which require routine maintenance to ensure their tightness or attachment and watertight seal and which restrain movement of the panel from expansion, contraction and other stresses.
This and other objects of the invention are provided by a panel system for attaching to a substructure of a roof or a wall. Such a panel system comprises at least one pair of adjacent panels and at least one clip for connecting each said pair of adjacent panels. Each of the panels comprises an elongate body with a base section having first and second side edges. A first leg is attached at a first end thereof at the first side edge and a second leg is attached at a first end thereof at the second side edge. These first and second legs extend generally perpendicularly from the base section. Each side edge further comprises a groove or channel. In order to attach the first leg of a first panel to the second leg of a second panel, each of the first and second legs has one of a complementary pair of mating means arranged at a second end therof. Each of the clips comprises a flat bottom that is arranged and designed to have a bottom surface fastened to the substructure. Each clip further has a left, a right and a central support member that extends from an upper surface of the flat bottom. Each of the left and right support members has an enlarged upper surface for bearing against the base section of a panel and receiving its weight. The central support member has a pair of outwardly extending tongues or tabs to be received in the channel or groove of the panels. At least one clip fits between each pair of the adjacent panels.